The United States and the International Campaign to End Global Terrorism

Today, the United States, joined by nations throughout the world, is engaged in a sustained effort to identify and destroy a global network of terrorists. With our abiding faith in human life and freedom, we will prevail over those who, cynically exploiting the fears of others, offer nothing but suffering and death.

"Our war on terrorism has nothing to do with differences in faith," President Bush said. "It has everything to do with people of all faiths coming together to condemn hate and evil and murder and prejudice."

This worldwide campaign against terror has many faces, some highly visible, others not:

• In Afghanistan, U.S. forces, with coalition support, are conducting military operations to root out and destroy the al Qaeda terror network and its Taliban supporters.

• International relief agencies, with U.S. assistance, are providing food, medicine, and shelter for Afghan refugees who have endured the humanitarian disaster over which the Taliban have presided.

• Law enforcement agencies are identifying and arresting suspected terrorists, and governments are freezing the financial assets of terrorists and their supporters.

• In the United States and around the world, families gather to mourn for the dead of September 11, and to care for the families bereft of sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers.

• At the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, workers continue to clear wreckage and begin the process of rebuilding. Yet out of this pain and loss, we can already see a renewed determination to find the perpetrators of these acts and to defend the values of humanity, diversity, and freedom that unite the world community.

How did we reach this time of sorrow and resolve, pain and hope?

NEXT: Defeating Terror/Defending Freedom: Day of Blood and Fire